Manor Lakes College is excited to announce that we are hosting a two day conference‘Under One Umbrella’ on the 14^th and 15^th of March 2014. Under One Umbrella conference will showcase resources and practical strategies to support the development of an inclusive community and highlight the support and resources that will enable all learners to be included in any school environment.

Over the two days, the forum will examine best practice, showcase the college in action and share insight into the ongoing challenges that are faced by all schools both locally and internationally. We will highlight the impact of a committed leadership team in any individual school.  We will discuss the role of the leadership team, the teacher, the education support staff and the wider community when taking on the challenge of providing seamless inclusion.

This will be a great opportunity to network with delegates from across Australia and to gain extensive knowledge about the inclusive education program that we have introduced in our school.  Our goal is to make your experience as rewarding as possible.

To register for this event and receive early bird prices visit http://underoneumbrella.com.au/

Join our Facebook event page Under One Umbrella-Inclusive Education to get daily updates about the conference and hear from the many speakers involved. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Under-One-Umbrella-Inclusive-Education/177609455771313?ref=hl

Registrations close on the 28^th of February 2014. Tickets are limited so book now!

 If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the conference organisers (contact details below). 

We look forward to seeing you there!

Kind Regards,

Anna Lake & MLC Conference Team

mlc.conference2014@gmail.com

Just a quick plug for our college and the staff and students currently visiting Timor Leste as part of their journey to learn about a different culture, make global connections and most of all, make a difference!

Click the link below to follow their journey.

http://mlp12ctimorleste2013.global2.vic.edu.au

Our team attended a professional learning day at local schools in New Brunswick. The focus of the day was to revisit and to continue the work on inclusion and universal accommodations for all students in all classrooms.  Research has shown that these accommodations are essential for some students and some are good for all students.

Universal Design for Learning is a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn.

UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone–not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs.

Individuals bring a huge variety of skills, needs, and interests to learning. Neuroscience reveals that these differences are as varied and unique as our DNA or fingerprints.

Three primary brain networks come into play:

Recognition Networks
The “what” of learning
How we gather facts and categorize what we see, hear, and read. Identifying letters, words, or an author’s style are recognition tasks.
Present information and content in different ways
More ways to provide
Multiple Means of Representation

Strategic Networks
The “how” of learning
Planning and performing tasks. How we organize and express our ideas. Writing an essay or solving a math problem are strategic tasks.
Differentiate the ways that students can express what they know
More ways to provide
Multiple Means of Action and Expression

Affective Networks
The “why” of learning
How learners get engaged and stay motivated. How they are challenged, excited, or interested. These are affective dimensions.
Stimulate interest and motivation for learning
More ways to provide
Multiple Means of Engagement

School leaders must consider The big picture for Inclusive education – what does it mean in terms of the physical, academic and social environment? What is the role of the school principal, how do you create a collaborative team for success and what levels of support are needed? New Brunswick have considered all of the elements – see documents page.

The focus of the day was for teachers to use UDL to document accommodations they will implement in every lesson to ensure the lesson will suit the individuals in the classroom.  They were given a list of possible accommodations – Universal Design for Learning Guideline (see documents page) I have also uploaded an example of the planning that was completed with the team I was working with, thanks to the team for allowing me to be part of the process!

The message was loud and clear that these accommodations will benefit all learners and it is our responsibility as educators to ensure we differentiate and consider what new approaches from the guidelines could be implemented to suit the individual students. Planning for all Learners documents the key concepts of UDL and list many resources and strategies to consider. (see documents page)

All team members gained a lot form this day and we can certainly implement many of these strategies in our schools in Victoria.

I have just  returned to work after a little detour via New York for another school visit, some galleries and some shopping. Our final afternoon with Micahel was a time to consider the journey of inclusion and where we are and where we would like to be in the short term  and in the long term.  Inclusion is not a point that a particular school or region will achieve.  Inclusion  is a  mindset or a way that the community will endeavour to achieve and needs to be constantly changing  as the community evolves.
At this stage there is no one agreed definition of inclusion, it is important that as a school we have a mantra and agreed perspective in relation to our ideas and philosopies about inclusion. An example of a mantra that I like is “It is less about the students characteristics and more about our characterisitcs if we include students”. This was certainly what many  of our team members saw when visiting schools, some schools and teams had a natural ability to include all students.
As a school we now have a couple of definate starting points. When need to have accurate data about the diverse needs of our student population and we need to use this data to create targets for the short and long term. We need to consider what our friends in Vermont and New Bruswick have learnt along the way and consider ways to overcome some of the challenges we have talked about on this blog. The article “I’ve counted Jon” gives us a great insight into some of the challages we are and will face and the light at the end of the tunnel (see documents page).
As we have discussed Inclusion needs to be for all students however it is important to consider this final mantra “Would that practice be ok  if the student didn’t have a disability? We need to always consider what  it would take to support the student to have the same opportunites as all of the other students and if necessary work backwards from this point. Another interesting article to read – “We keep asking the same questions” (see document page).

On a final note the team and I would like to thank Michael Giangreco and the team at Vermont University for their time and the wealth of information they have shared with us. It was an amazing two days that will really assist our college in it’s endeavour to create a rich learning environment for all students. THANK YOU and we look forward to Micahel’s keynote presentation at the conference at Manor Lakes P -12 College – March 14th and 15th 2014.

Blog entry from Jenny

*Visited Magnetic Hill School with Evan. Magnetic Hill is a local optical illusionary phenomena- drive down the hill and stop and the car will apparently reverse back up the hill. Didn’t experience this but Jason did. Anyhow to the educational phenomena………..
*Elementary and middle school- K-8. 400 students/20 home groups. We did join with another school, Sediac Cape, for the PD day on Thursday. we also visited Evergreen School- K-5 on Wednesday.
* No special school provision across the Province (state) of New Brunswick since 1985. Audits are done twice a year in April (for the following year- starting September) and in January (sort of mid year), to determine the students’ needs and distribution of supports.
* Methods and Resource teachers (a bit like our leading teachers) meet with the class teachers and EAs (ESs) to work out the program for the students with disabilities.
* EAs working ‘with’ not ‘for’ the students. Like ours there is a variance in proficiency and training. Training is not compulsory.
* SEP (student education Plans) or SEPB (student education plans behaviour) are determined under the following headings-
I- individual- self help/life skills
M- modified for those lower than the expected level
E- enrichment for those above the expected level
A- accommodations for specific learning difficulties
* Be aware thought that these will alter with the new inclusion policy just being rolled out.
* Curriculum consists of Literacy, Numeracy, You and your world and specialists.
* K-2 have early dismissal 1.40 pm
*Early immersion in French in year 3 or full immersion in year 5. This presents with additional issues regarding inclusion and traditional perception. (The french stream has traditionally been the higher academic cohort but this is changing.
*Daily 5 (reading requirements) and maths rotations-stations
* class sizes comparable-
K-2-20/21
Year3- 26
Year 4 and upwards-28; however they cannot exceed these numbers. Classes are split if numbers climb. Difficulties if there are not extra spaces to place new class.
* Universal design for learning is planning and teaching for all learners. Students do not have disabilities- they have exceptionalities and all students have diverse needs but all can learn. It is based on the premise that what is essential for some is good for all. What do I want my students to know and do? How will I achieve this?
* What does inclusive practice look like with respect to:
instruction and assessment?, Physical learning environment?, Communication?, Interaction with students?

So much to share,so much to celebrate in what we are already doing.
Coincidentally today is Canadian Thanksgiving and Tom and I are about to head out in a Mustang convertible to explore Prince Edward Island- one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Share more education when home.

1. Exciting times ahead at the Lakes
   Looking forward to working with the team here in Canada & then back at the Manor Lakes College with my peers
   Can’t wait to hear what others are doing in regards to Inclusive Education
   A truly great opportunity to listen, share, reflect, develop ideas & concepts
   Next year will be our first year as a true P/12 College Campus
   As an educator I am lucky to be part of a great team, college & community
   Exciting times ahead!
   Dream Believe Inspire!

This afternoon we met up with Jesse Suter – PH.D.
He works at the Center of Disability and Community Inclusion at Vermont University
He’s a psychologist / trainer in the area of Positive Behaviors (Positive Behaviors Interventions & Supports)

-Great conversations about the three tier system & how that looks
-Discussions around the ‘wraparound’ & who is involved in that process

What is the ‘wraparound’?
The wraparound is where discussions take place with professionals & how the child will benefit with these various interventions

Conversations are the key – sharing of information

-The ‘check in / check out’ process is another way students can take control with there learning/develop goals for the day & discuss with a trusted adult the day in hand

(Refer to Jessie’s website-below)

Today vindicated the great work we’re doing at the Lakes
Everything from the Reward Systems / Yellow Tokens for Positive Behaviors – 6 positives :1
negative – to our cartoon characters who are the vehicle for our mission statement / to the Community Newsletter that goes out to families / to our Parent Information Programs that outline what PBS is & how we get families on board with the program

Data is essential – teachers driving this program is essential & the key to its success
Data shows it works!

Exciting Times Ahead at the Lakes
· Minister announced funding for PBS schools next year
· Manor Lakes will be applying for funding to become a mentoring school next year. This will involve mentoring four others schools
· Our PBS focus is “Increasing Responsibility for Learning”

http://www.uvm.edu/-jsuter – great website – well worth checking out

Dream Believe Inspire
Anthony

This morning at Vermont University we spoke to Cassie and Bryan about Think College.
Think College Vermont is a small, inclusive, social & vocational program for students with intellectual disabilities seeking a college experience. Participants earn a 2 year, 9-12 credit Certificate of Professional Studies for non matriculated students

These include:
Academic Enrichment
Socialization
Independent Living Skills & Self Advocacy

The most powerful aspect of the program is the role of mentors.

The way they assist, provide support and get involved – it is a truly win-win situation for all parties.

As a result the process of selection & transition is critical for the success of this program.

Reflecting on today makes you realize that working with young people & watching them grow is such a special experience. Think of all the great teachers you had and ask yourself why.

Why did you connect with that person? What made them so special?

You Tube the Erin Mckenzie Graduation Speech & you’ll see why Inclusive Education can work!

The Erin Mckenzie Story is a powerful reminder that life is fragile & beautiful – Congratulations to Vermont University!

What a brilliant program! Thanks Cassie & Bryan – look forward to being part of further conversations into the future!

Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself – John Dewey

We met with Michael Giangreco at the University of Vermont (UVM) this morning. UVM is situated in South Burlington, Vermont USA, it has a student population of approximately 13000. It was founded in 1791 and is the Fifth oldest university in New England (after Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth and Brown).
Our three hour discussion took many turns this morning and we have a wealth of information and ideas that we are keen to share when we return to Australia. I will briefly touch on some of the key areas we discussed.
We discussed a naturally occurring proportion or population of students with a disability within a school environment and how it is important to have a clear understanding of this data at a school level and a system level in order to plan and make changes for the future. We discussed that in a case like Manor Lakes College it is difficult to reach the ideal environment because the data is regularly changing given we are in a growth corridor in the west of Melbourne and we do have a disproportionate number of students with a disability. This is due to the history of the college, in 2009 we were registered as a mainstream and a special school. We are now a P-12 college for our local families.
In Vermont the ideal is to have all students in a general classroom 80% of the time or more. All schools have special education teachers that support the general educators, the number and ratio of special educators varies greatly. In Vermont approximately
72 % of students are in general classroom 80% of the time, although Michael did acknowledge that the percentage is higher in the elementary years and lower in the high school years. We talked about the fact that the students do not change as they become older but the gap in the students knowledge and ability becomes wider in some cases as the students become older.
It was once again reassuring to hear that we are all faced with similar questions, concerns and challenges with the high school years, especially year 9-12. Another similarity was that the opportunities and success of students varied greatly and it is largely dependent on the school and it’s community. Michael talked about the fact that for every student that is excluded you would find a similar student in another school that is successfully included using the tiered level of supports (see RTI blog entry).
We spent some time talking about ideal service delivery models and aspirational figures. The schools in Vermont all have special educators as part of their team and in an ideal world the proportion would be 1 special educator to every 65 students. This is certainly not currently happening but would be possible in many school if services were adjusted and reconfigured. The picture below refers to one of these ideal models. It is also vital that we build service delivery models that are safe and can support any stresses that turn up, bandaids will only last for so long! This model also allowed for floating paraprofessional support to met the needs of students that may need assistance with eating or personal care. As a team we all agreed that a paraprofessional sitting next to a student with additional needs for the majority of the time is not something that we see in the best interest of these students.
The final area we discussed was Multi-level curriculum and how this works with PBiS, RTI and Universal Design for Learning. As you can see in the diagram below multi-level curriculum can be for students at, below or above standard and students can move along the ladder. In our school we certainly have multi-level curriculum but is is often the middle tier that is missed when making adjustments for individual students. The framework is a good way for teachers to make informed and planned adjustments to the curriculum.